Fahour pockets $10.8m as Aust Post soars

Australia Post will hand Ahmed Fahour a final $10.8 million pay packet after the company nearly trebled its annual profit in the departed chief executive's final year in charge.

Another strong performance by Australia Post's parcels unit lifted it to a $95 million profit from $36 million in 2016.

Mr Fahour, who announced his departure in February amid a political furore over the size of his pay, will pocket a long-term incentive payment of $4 million on top of his $6.8 million in salary, short-term incentives and super.

Parcels' pre-tax profit rose 4.8 per cent to $299.7 million in what Australia Post said was a very competitive market, but the number of letters sent in the 12 months to June 30 fell by another 11.8 per cent with that business losing $180.2 million before tax.

Christine Corbett - who is acting chief executive until former Blackmores chief Christine Holgate arrives in October - said Australia Post's move to becoming a major player in delivering goods bought online was paying off.

She said the success of the parcels business, which was the cornerstone of the turnaround from a $222 million full-year loss in 2015, was allowing Australia Post to reinvest in other parts of its business

"Last Christmas, we had our largest ever parcel delivery day, with more than two million parcels delivered in a single day, and we've continued to experience strong growth throughout what is traditionally a quieter second half," Ms Corbett said.

"With new entrants to the market contributing to overall growth in e-commerce volumes, we expect our parcels business to continue to grow, allowing for reinvestment in customer initiatives like MyPost, parcel lockers and digital trusted services."

December 12 was Australia Post's biggest ever day for parcel delivery.

Strong parcels growth is expected to continue in the 2018 financial year but further declines in letter volumes will put pressure on Australia Post's bottom line, Ms Corbett said.

"The letters business still presents a significant challenge, with our largest ever 12-month volume decline experienced this year," she said.

"We need to continue to ensure this business is sustainable, while managing the declining foot traffic in post offices, and we are speaking with the community on how they may use the letters service in the future."